I'll try to display mine later today. It's almost 2 AM (0200 for our European friends) and I need to get to bed!

OK...... a couple of teasers if I must. Here's my IIIc with Imarect finder. This camera is so smoooooth it's scary! Advancing the film is completely effortless. Also my III with 90mm Elmar & Imarect finder.

My IIIa with Summitar. It's got a series filter holder on it that jsut slips over the lens, acting as a small hood. Not sure if this is sufficient yet. I need a shutter button collar. Anyone have a spare?

The IIIa is best with a 50 f3.5 Elmar. Other lenses bring the camera over a critical threshold for me for weight and compactness.

Gene -- My IIIc and my grandfather's are one and the same. He gave it to me sometime in the early 1970s. I remember having shutter problems with it and getting it repaired in 1976. The repair didn't last long and I put it on a shelf until almost three years ago when a friend pulled my Leica down from its display perch. I was embarrased because of the layer of dust on it. Even more embarrassed when I discovered he was the owner of a Leica M6. He encouraged me to use it. I explained the shutter problem that had prompted me to put it on the shelf 27 years before and he said he could recomend some Leica repair people. That prompted me to clean the little Leica up the next day and run a couple of test rolls though it. What a joy to use! The controls are a little archaic (winder knob) but it felt like no other camera I've used. Nothing automatic on this sucker. I had been shooting a digital camera for 5 years and was tired of the "automatic" features that get in the way. Unfortunately the test rolls showed the shutter problems were still there and that there were now pinholes in the shutter curtains. It was another year and a half before I discovered the FSU cameras and bought a Zorki 6 and a FED 2 and then discovered RFF. Then a while back Richard Black mentioned that Oleg did a CLA on his Leica and that was something I could afford so it was Oleg that finally brought it back to life. It was a long time on the shelf but now it lives in my coat pocket and goes with my everywhere.

Peter is quite amazing. He resilvered the mirror, and gave the whole thing a complete overhaul. It really is like getting a new camera. And I especially like the paint scheme where he keeps the knobs in chrome. He calls it 'chrome jewelry'. Check out some of his other work:

I may be mistaken, but I seem to find that these old cameras need less servicing than their M brethren. How many of you "barnack freaks" have found a need to have your camera serviced?

I have had both the IIIc and IIIf overhauled and the RF mirror in both replaced. I don't think they had anything done to them by previous owners. Not sure though, but if it is that is not a bad record for mid 1950's cameras.

I may be mistaken, but I seem to find that these old cameras need less servicing than their M brethren. How many of you "barnack freaks" have found a need to have your camera serviced?

Nice IIIf, ray! I don't think my BD IIIf was CLA'd 8 years ago when I acquired it but it still works great. My Leica IIs were acquired "as-is" so I did my own CLA. I also have a IIIa that works fine except the 1/8 speed is intermittent must be a pallet in the slow speed escapement that I need to learn how to fix. OTOH, my M6 from the early 90s has been to Sherry twice, once for light leaks and then something went funky with the framelines after a trip to the tropics. The Barnacks are just simpler designs so there's less that can go wrong as long as they are cared for.

I may be mistaken, but I seem to find that these old cameras need less servicing than their M brethren. How many of you "barnack freaks" have found a need to have your camera serviced?

Ray- I've had my Summitar serviced because the aperture ring got stiff, but my IIIa and 5cm/3.5 Elmar have not been in a shop since I purchased them in 1952. To be truthful, the shop owner said the curtains were new when I bought the camera. The IIIf is newer to me, but I've never had it serviced.

I can't say as much for a couple of Leica lenses that I've tried and sold. A 73mm/1.9 Hektor was a disappointment, and I knew of no one doing CLAs at the time, so I traded it. A 50mm/1.5 Summarit was worn out when I got it, and I got tired of trying to deal with it. Otherwise, Leica gear has held up quite well.

Gotta sneak in here and support joe. To me, the finest Barnacks ever came from Canon... The single VF/RF is just much more esthetically pleasing to me as well as the far easier to use take up spool. The original was a truely great moment. But some, like Canon, took it as a baseline and ran like a bat out of you know where to turn thiers into somthing even greater.

But, yes, he's right that it's very subjective. To me, the nicest Barnack ever made was the Canon IVSb. But, then, I actually owned one of those...

"Some people are 'the glass is half full' types. Some people are 'the glass is half empty' types. I'm a 'the glass is full of radioactive waste and I just drank half of it' type. And I'm still thirsty." -- Bill Mattocks

it's an m3 that i traded for.
i did have a canon lll and a canon ivsb for a while though.
and i do think the canon is prettier but that's very subjective eh?
joe

Just yankin' your chain a little Joe.

To tell the truth I owned a Canon RF some 30 odd years ago when I was in Korea but it had a problem and I traded or sold it. I probably should have kept it for repair when I came back to the States but it didn't seem important at the time. I don't recall the model now but it was an early one.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder which makes the world go around. Where would we be if everyone thought the Kodak Instamatic was the prettiest camera in the world?

and yes, i did sell the ivsb. i started to feel the collector's urge and having both the lll & ivsb i feared a whole new direction in spending...so i got rid of them both.

same happened with my short lived relationship with a kiev. i really liked that camera and was afraid i would start to collect bodies and lenses and eventually start in on contaxes.
i could not afford the temptation, literally.

at least with screwmount and m i can add an adapter and still have full use without buying more lenses etc.

To tell the truth I owned a Canon RF some 30 odd years ago when I was in Korea but it had a problem and I traded or sold it. I probably should have kept it for repair when I came back to the States but it didn't seem important at the time. I don't recall the model now but it was an early one.

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder which makes the world go around. Where would we be if everyone thought the Kodak Instamatic was the prettiest camera in the world?

Walker

It'd be great! People would pay $500 for a basic plastic camera and Leicas would go for $5 with only 2 or 3 bids on Ebay. Somebody in Russia would start selling Smena 8s or Cosmic Symbols with Nazi markings for silly money claiming they were copies of original Kodaks.

I've heard about - and seen ads for - the red scale Elmar.
Are there any optical differences in the red scale Elmar vs non-RS Elmars?

Supposedly the red scale had lanthane in the glass elements [derived from Summicron 50 R&D] which gave it a flatter field especially at wider apertures. There were some black scale Elmars predating the red scale that had lanthane glass, look out for the f22 minimum aperture.

They are called Okaro /14058 Orange Rengefinder Filter, for Leica models IIc, IIf, IIIb, IIIc, and IIIf. This small slip- on orange filter was used to improve the contrast between the two rangefinder images. They were particularly recommended for artificial light.

I tried it out with a piece of slide film I mistook for BW film. Orange filter produced a very orange cast. I will keep it on the Bessa T I think, but not on the IIf. It makes the finder a little darker ofcourse, and while enhancing contrast I find myself searching more for bits to focus on.
My rangefinder spot is a little yellower anyway, so I have a little more contrast.

Naaa. Count it as the green background playing tricks on old eyes, Art. Nice photo of a really nice camera and that lens is a beauty. I'm new to Barnack waters, so tell me about the red lens on the VF. I've seen it before, though rarely, and always wondered... what's it called? what's it for? etc.

Thanks again. It appears that your question has been answered quite well, I can only add that, in the case of a IIIa, the orange filter is called an ORAKO. It is approximately 10mm in diameter. The OKARO is slightly larger and will not fit the III/IIIa.

Richie, nice setup - how do you find using the RASUK/RASUL sportsfinder? Pain in the ass? Fun/Easy?

It was annoying at first, because of the little peephole that you are supposed to look through; but, after playing with it for a while, I found that just looking through the center of the framelines and leaving the peephole part of the finder down is good enough most of the time. I do not even have to bother to put my face close to the camera. No more scratched glasses-ever

Francisco, old rule of thumb, change the shutter speed after winding the camera. I don't know if it matters with the Barnack Leicas, and I don't think you have to with the later Canon knob winders, but better safe than sorry.

Francisco, old rule of thumb, change the shutter speed after winding the camera. I don't know if it matters with the Barnack Leicas, and I don't think you have to with the later Canon knob winders, but better safe than sorry.

The shutter speed dial on the III/IIIa Barnack will not read correctly unless it is wound before setting.

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